Rail-connecting system for railroads and the like



July 2, 1 929. c. A. HENRY 1.719.011

RAIL CONNECTING SYSTEM FOR RAILROADS AND THE LIKE Filed July 15. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 WWW d 0 W fiwca. 25

y 1929, c. A. HENRY 1.119.011

- I RAIL CONNECTING SYSTEM FOR RAILROADS AND THE LIKE Filed July 15. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig] figs y 1929- c. A.'HENRY 1,719,011

run. commune SYSTEM FOR RAILROADS AND'THE LIKE Filed July 15. 1928 4 Sheets-$11061. a

fig. 141

7 1929- c. A. HENRY I 1,719.01

RAIL CONNECTING SYSTEM FOR RAILROADS AND THE LIKEv Filed July 13. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented July 2, 1929.

CHARLES ALBERT HENRY, 012 PARIS, FRANCE.

RAIL-CONINECTING SYSTEM' FOR RAILROADS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed July 13, 1928, Serial No. 292/192, and in France February 3, 1928.

It is well known that the rails composing a railroad are actually assembled by longitudinal fishing, that is to say by means of fish-plates or splice-bars laid. in parallel with the rails, and wedged in by locking bolts placed on the side of the rails in the recess of the fish-plate.

My invention has for its object a new method for fishing ol rails which may be described as transverse fishing whereby the conditions imposed upon the longitudinal fishing are satisfactorily filled both as regards resistances and the possibilities of expansion. and contraction oil. the bars.

This new method 01 fishing is based on the utilization of resilient steel plates pro vided one for every length of rail and se cured by any appropriate means to the corresponding length of rail in a transverse plane, that is, in a perpendicular or an inclined direction relatively to the longitudinal. axis of the rail, the plates at the ends oil? the rails to be joined together being socured "for instance by means of rivets, or bolts, by welding, etc. As there is left be tween two plates where thus assembled a certain il rce space in the connecting zone with the rail, these plates are connected together under said zone, outside the outline of the rail by means of bolts, ribs, hinges, knee joints, or else welded. or keyed together or by any other devices in order to allow for the expansion and the contraction of the rails to take place above owing to their resiliency.

T he present mode of transverse assembling by means of plates may be applied not only to railroads, utilizing rails of the same kind. (flange rails or double headed rails) but also rails of dill'crent cross-sections, as well as for connecting metal parts of all. kinds, either exactly end to end or almost end to end, so as to provide expansioi'i play. It may be applied for example to girders ingeneral. and more especially to metal bridge girders or reinforced concrete bridge girders.

The assembling of rails according to my invention may be executed in various manners the modes o'l execution being similar regards the principle but varying either in. the manner-of securing the plates at the ends of the rails or in the way in which they ennected together out '11. th rail, or

According to a first mode of execution the plates are secured directly to the rail. They may be single or made in two parts placed on either side of the web, always in the same transverse plane.

In a second embodiment 01"? my invention the plates made oi two elements which are synnnetrical relatively to the vertical plane of the rail are fixed upon the latter by means of parts at right angles to said plates, such as portions of ordinary so-called longitudinal fish-plates.

According to third modification both plates may be naturally connected so as to constitute a single part conveniently provided with a middle fold to ensure the resiliency of the joint.

The plates may be supported by collars secured upon the foot of the rail and passing under the joint in the lower parts of the plates whether the latter are secured directly or not to the rail.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated by way .ot examples several different forms embodying the principles of this invention in which Figs. 1, 2, 3, l, 5, 6 concern the first mode oi execution of my invention the plates being secured directly to the rails.

Figs. 1 and 2 are side views illustrating diagramniatically two modes of execution of the connection.

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively an end view and a side view of a third mode of execution oi the connection.

Fig. 5 an end. view of a modification of the connection illustrated in Figs. 3 and l.

Fig. 6 represents another modified form oil. the device in the case of two rails having different cross-sections Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10,11, 12-, 13, 14; and 15 illustrate the second mode of execution in which the plates are not secured directly to the rails.

Figs. 7 and 8 are perspective views of a plate element and its locking device.

Figs. 9 and 10 are perspective views of a length .of rail in which the foot is notched in various manners.

F 11, 12 and 13 are respectively an end, side and perspective view of the connection formed by the plate element and its locking device shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

Five. 14 and 1 show a c onncctiqn Fig. 16.is a side view of a connection according to the first mode of execution, improved by the addition of a support.

Fig. 17'is a similar View of the second mode of execution.

Figs. 18 and 19 are respectively a side View and a; plan .view of a connection with skew joint.

20, 21' and 22 are side views illustrating,threemodified forms of the connection off the plates.

In the first embodiment of'the principle on which my invention is based illustrated in Fig. 1, the plates 0, c are each provided with a wing. to allow of fixing them under the foot of the two rail, lengths A, B. The connection a t-D under the rails may be of any'appropriate type in order to prevent theplates coming apart orsliding relatively to each other.

The modified form shown in Fig. 2 differs only from the former in that the plates 0, o are. engaged here upon the whole section of the railsxto which they are secured by welding for example.

Inthe practical,embodiment of the pres entinvention shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, the plates are constituted by twocut-out steel blades weldedto the ends of the rails.

The plate is provided in front of the rail webwitha notch e designedtoincrease the number of points welded with the edge of the rail, weldingsteel being introduced in the recess 6 of the cut -out part in order to engage the ebof the rail in such a mannen as to. constitute an extension of said web in the plate. This connection would be almost sufiicient by itself to'secure theplate to the rail buttit ispreterable to increase the number of welded surfaces and run the welding; metal on the whole circumference of the railin order to-reinforce the section of the joint Thus moreover air and, water cannot enter between. the edge of the rail and the plate, so. that consequently rust cannot be produced on that point,

The welding material is thus. brought also at the top or the, joint. at f in order to fill the free space and bring the 7 width.

plate on the same plane as the running surface of the r,ail, and at g torensure the continuity of the section. The width \of the steel blades 0 increases slightly under the head of the rail in order to offer a sufiiciently large section to transmit the stress and to resist to lateral stresses (horse-shoe movements) which tendto displace one end of a rail relatively to the other. In this .region both plates are. striated in such a manner asto form teeth. d along its whole The teeth engaging reciprocally the two platesare securely joined together and are maintained thus assembledby means of bolts h. There. isthus. produced a perfect connection which transmits the stresses from one plate to the other and consequently from one rail to the next, providing also in the upper region owing to the resiliency olithe plates for the varying length of the rails.

Owing to the combined resistance of the bolts and of the teeth a suitable strength may be obtained in a reduced space. The conjunction ol strize in this arrangement involves the use of two kinds of plates that is male and female plates.

In order to dispense with the machining of the notch in the web of the plate and to prevent the resulting loss of: metal, the plate may be divided in two parts a, c which may be called twin plates" (Fig. The slot 0 is produced by the separation between two half-plates the connection and the position of which being ensured by the striar.

1tv will be evident that plates of cast steel may be used to fish rails said plates being of a suitable shape and provided with cast striae. The latter could also be made by rolling and the plates be cut out in sheet, metal.

The rails assembled together in the manner above described may be of dillercnt cross section provided that the stria) and the bolt holes are in the same position relatively to the running surface of the rail.

Fig. 6 shows the arrangement employed for connectinga Vignole rail with a grooved rail. It will then be sufiicient for each plate that the notch e be adapted to the web of the corresponding rail in order that the welding upon the web which gives the best joint may be as complete as possible. For the plate whichengagcs the grooved rail said notch will preferably be closed on the circum't'erence.

Twin plates of an appropriate shape may also be used and in that case they would no longer be syn'imctrical.

In order to adapt the present system of connection to existing rails I may use twin plates made in one piece having a particular profile which may be a portion of an ordinary longitudinal fish-plate I as will be seen in Figs. 7 and 8. The whole will then be easily secured by means of bolts to the ends of the rails to be assembled the fool of which has been simply notched to come spond with the thickness of the plain. as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, to allow of the plate passing under the rail, the plate bein; in that case flush with the web and head olf the rail. The half-joint presents the shape shown in Figs. 11 and 13, the parts l being wedged in between the head and the foot of the rail. The joint will preferably be made perfect by welding at m, (Fi n 12) in order to connectmore closely the fish-plate elements Z with the rails.

The plates 0 may also be made in one piece as shown in Figs. 14 and and in that case the connection D shown in Fig. 1 is not necessary. The whole device is constituted by a piece of sheet metal a forming in the middle a U with resilient arms and sliiouldered portions for fixing the plate to the foot of the rails by means of clips 0 and bolts p for example. The width of the plates allows the packing by the ballast that thus supports the joint.

In all cases the connection of the rails may be made stronger by supporting the zone of the greatest stress, that is the joint ol the plates by means of a lower flange which engages the foot of the rails.

Fig. 16 shows the embodiment of the said arrangement. l ig. 17 shows its application to the type of connection illustrated in Fig. 12. The present invention allows besides the principal types oi connection already described the execution of a connection with skew joint.

18 and 19 represent a connection of that type in which the plates designed to :lish. the rails are secured to the latter by means oi parts Z. This joint will facilitate the running oi? the vehicles the wheels being continuously supported as they pass from one rail to the other. The accidental slipping at the joint is etl'ectually prevented by the friction oi the two striated parts.

In all the modes of assembling above described some of the arrangements indicated may be replaced by similar ones. l edges or keys may be substituted for the strive as shown in Fig. 20 where the key in is surrounded by two plates clamped together by bolts h; the shearing stress being transferred to the wedge. The plates may also be assembled together by means of bolts.

Lastly, arrangements may be provided to limit the opening of the joint in the case of the bars contracting by very low temperatures or of creeping of the rails. The two plates may be secured by means of a wedge g (Fig. 21) or of a bolt h- (Fig. 22).

The system. of fishing the rails as above described allows of giving in a very simple manner a good electrical insulation to a couple of rails assembled together. This result may be obtained by the inter aosition of a sheet of fibrous material introduced between the strize and. wedged in. The lock ing bolts will of course also be insulated.

It will be evident that although I have described my invention in its application for connecting rail lengths together it may also be advantageously applied to the assembling of section irons of all kinds every time that free play must be provided for expansion.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent oil the United States is:

1. A rail connecting system which comprises a steel plate placed transversely at each end of each rail, means for securing both plates at the adjacent ends of the rails, a -free space being provided in the region opposite the section of the rail, and connecting means for said plates outside said section, in such a manner as to prevent sliding of one plate relatively to the other in every direction.

2. A rail connecting system which. comprises a steel plate at the ends of: each rail placed perpendicularly to same, both plates being separated by a tree space in the region opposite the end of the rail, and means for connecting the plates outside said. end in such a manner as to prevent the plates sliding one relatively to the other.

3. A ail connecting system which comprises a steel plate placotfl perpendicularl y at each end ol each rail, said plate extending under the rail and being secured to same and connecting means between adjacent plates under the foot ot the rail, a :lree space being left above between the plates in order to provide for expansion of the parts and to prevent the relative sliding movement of the plates.

t. Arail connecting system which comprises two halt-plates placed perpendicularly at the end. of each rail, said halt-plates being arranged in the same plane on either side oil? the web (it the rail. and secured on. same and extending under the rail, and means to connect in that regi m the tour halt-plates of the connecting device, said. means providing at the top the necessary free space for expansion and preventing the relative sliding of the plates in all. directions 5. A. rail connecting system which comprises: a plate perpendicular to said rail disposed on the end oil each rail, said plate extending under the rail and secured to same, strite formed in the lower part o'li said. plate and conjugated with the striae of the opposite plate with which they engage. said stria. projecting from the plates in such a manner that a free space is provided between the plates above same, and bolts and screws to clamp the two striated parts.

In testimony t|i|at I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name.

CHARLES ALBERT HENRY. 

